White Sox fight past rain, Royals

They survived three errors and three wild pitches to pull out a 9-7 win at Kansas City.

"A lot of good things happened, and a lot of bad things happened," Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. "It's a great win for us."

The start of the game was delayed by one hour, 46 minutes because of rain, but the Sox's play was sloppier than the field conditions.

They overcame shoddy play as Joe Crede hit a game-tying home run in the eighth off Brandon Duckworth. In the ninth, the Sox took the lead for good when Pablo Ozuna beat out an infield hit, and pitcher Joakim Soria's throwing error enabled Paul Konerko to score the go-ahead run.

"One thing about him is he's got to throw strikes," Guillen said. "When he throws strikes, he gets people out. He's got major league stuff."

Despite an early lead, Sox starter Javier Vazquez gave up four runs in the bottom of the first and the Sox now have been outscored in the opening inning by a 22-8 margin.

The four runs were one fewer than Vazquez had surrendered in his first 18 innings covering his first three starts.

The biggest blow in the first was a two-run triple by former Sox utility player Ross Gload. Highly touted rookie Alex Gordon's single scored Gload to cap the four-run rally.

The Sox's three errors tied a season-high set April 15 at Cleveland. Catcher A.J. Pierzynski's throwing error in the second was the first miscue by the Sox since April 15, a span of 70 1/3 innings.

The Sox rallied from a three-run deficit against Royals starter Brian Bannister, the son of former Sox pitcher Floyd Bannister.

Juan Uribe ripped a two-run double off the bottom of the left field fence to cut the Sox's deficit to 4-3.

The Sox tied the game 4-4 in the fifth on Darin Erstad's leadoff double and Konerko's single that knocked out Bannister, then regained the lead in the sixth on Erstad's two-out, two-run double off reliever Joel Peralta.

Vazquez threw 102 pitches through sixth, but Guillen let him start the seventh. But Pena knocked him out with a leadoff double.

The Sox's bullpen woes continued when left-hander Matt Thornton gave up two run-scoring hits to Mark Grudzielanek and Mark Teahen, who advanced to second when the ball skipped away in left from Ozuna, who entered the game as a defensive replacement.

MacDougal wasn't effective either, Emil Brown smacked a double that gave the Royals a 7-6 lead, and Brown moved to third when center fielder Brian Anderson kicked the ball for an error.

The bullpen's ineffectiveness could heighten the need for left-handed rookie John Danks to pitch quality innings in Wednesday's night's series opener against AL champion Detroit.

Danks walked three and threw only 54 of 94 pitches for strikes in 4 2/3 innings last Friday against the Tigers.

"I'm not going to change a thing until they show they can make an adjustment toward me," Danks said. "I've said all along I need to find a way to have shorter innings. I've thrown a lot of pitches per inning so my main goal is to attack the bottom of the zone and make them put the ball on the ground earlier in counts. Let the defense work behind me.

"The Tigers are one of the more aggressive teams I've faced so far. If I can attack the bottom, I'll give up my share of hits. But more times than not my defense will make the plays behind me."